


I'm Screaming, Can't You Hear Me?

by SalamanderGoo



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Amputation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Barry's girlfriend!, Car Accidents, Major Character Injury, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Polyamory, She only briefly shows up because idk if she's cool with fics about her, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-26 21:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18725509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalamanderGoo/pseuds/SalamanderGoo
Summary: Brian's in an accident.  And it's bad.  But somehow he's here... but also in the hospital?  It's too much for a scientifically minded person to handle.





	I'm Screaming, Can't You Hear Me?

Why did these things always seem to happen on the most normal days?

Brian had been on his way to work, the windows rolled down.  It was hot. He assumed about as hot as the deepest circle of hell, maybe a few degrees cooler.  Not that he believed in hell. Or… maybe he did. He was never too sure himself these days. But regardless, it was hot.  Enough that he could feel sweat dripping down the back of his neck as he drove down the highway towards work.

His radio was on, playing an old CD he’d burned with some of his favorite music, loud enough to make the drive bearable.  LA traffic was never good, so he’d always leave extra early to try and combat it. He took a sip of his cooling coffee, idly glancing at the other side of the road, at the oncoming traffic.  His eyes widened when he saw a truck swerve, right towards him. A car was going the wrong way, the swerve sending the truck directly towards him. He slammed his brakes, squeezing his eyes shut as he gripped the wheel tighter.  After a few seconds, he peeked his eyes open, blinking when he didn’t see… anything. The truck must have missed him.

It was inexplicable, but who was he to complain?  The rest of his drive was quiet and fairly calm, but he definitely felt shaken.  He couldn’t help but to wonder what would have happened if the truck hadn’t somehow turned away from him.  A cold spike went through his stomach. There probably wouldn’t have been any way he’d survive a direct hit.  How would the others react? Dan? ...Arin and Suzy?

Brian shuddered, trying not to think about it too much.  He was alive and here, so that’s what mattered. He sighed as he went into the office, shutting the door behind him.  One of the interns looked over, a confused look on his face. He shook his head before walking away. “That was weird…”  Brian raised an eyebrow, heading over to his desk. There were some papers resting there, left by Arin or Dan.

After a few minutes, Dan walked in, looking at his phone.  “Anyone hear from Brian? I’ve called him like twice and it went right to voicemail.”

“Ha ha, very funny.  My phone hasn’t even gone off, Dan.”  Brian rolled his eyes, looking over at Dan.  But Dan didn’t seem to have heard him, looking right past him.

“There was an accident on the route he normally drives,” Arin piped up.  A drunk driver was on the wrong side of the road, and a truck swerved into the wrong lane.”

“A drunk driver at 9 am?  Huh.” Dan shook his head.  “Well, I’m sure he’ll be in soon.”  Dan headed to the couch, picking up his computer.

“That’s odd…”   Brian looked around, picking up a pen off his desk and tossing it, looking around at reactions.  He had a vague hypothesis in his head, but it was impossible… he just needed to do some experiments, prove himself wrong.  Ross looked down at the pen as he passed Brian’s desk, scrunching up his forehead in slight confusion as he bent down to pick it up.  “Hey Ross, what’s up?” Brian waved a hand in front of Ross’s face, trying to get a reaction. But nothing. Brian tried to pass it off as being because Ross had earbuds in.  That was fine and logical.

Everything was fine.

He walked over to Suzy’s desk, perching on the edge of it, something she’d be sure to berate him for.  But she didn’t even look up. She just took a sip of her water and kept working on her computer. “...Suzy?”   He frowned, reaching out to softly rest a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t seem to even notice him. She just rolled her shoulders to get his hand off, which was almost like a slap to the face.  “Oh.”

Brian got up off her desk, hurt by that.  He didn’t understand what was happening, and was starting to feel cold coils of fear building up in his chest.  “Dan?” He walked over to Dan’s couch, which was basically his desk these days. “Dan, come on, I know you can hear me!”  He wasn’t sure if the building feelings were anger or panic or something else. “Just say something!” He looked around the office.  “Someone? ...Anyone? I know you can hear me!”

Dan’s phone started ringing, but Brian didn’t even look.  He slowly sat down on the coffee table by the couch, looking down at the floor.  He didn’t understand what was going on.

Why couldn’t anyone hear him?  They just seemed to be ignoring him, and this just wasn’t the kind of prank they’d pull.  After all-

“Oh god,” Dan whispered.  Brian turned around, seeing tears in Dan’s eyes, a hand over his mouth.  “Y… yes. I’m on my way. I’ll be there soon.” He hung up, face noticibly paler.  “Arin!”

Arin hurried out at Dan’s yell, which had been full of fear.  “Dan? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Brian… He was in an accident.  He’s in really bad condition and they don’t know if he’ll make it.”  He was shaking and just started to cry. Arin paled too, moving to pull Dan into a hug.

Brian felt a chill go through him, suddenly feeling sick.  That couldn’t be right. But Dan was sobbing into Arin’s shoulder, Arin looked like he might throw up, and when he looked over at the rest of the office, everyone had gone silent.  “..this is a prank, right?” His quiet question felt like it filled the room, but not a single person looked at him. This was no prank. Despite standing in the center of the office, somehow, he was dying in the hospital.

“I have to go.  I’m… I’m his emergency contact.  They said I have to make some decisions.”  Dan wiped at his face, shaking.

“I’ll come with you.  Suzy?” Arin looked over at her, tears dripping down his cheeks.  Suzy grabbed her purse, blowing her nose. She let out a quiet sob, letting Arin wrap her in a tight hug.

Brian could feel something aching in his chest, watching them.  He didn’t understand how it was possible. The idea that he was here but not was concerning.  He just had no idea what to do…

He wasn’t sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew, he was standing in the hospital waiting room, looking around.  It was quiet, save for a small child playing with a box of oversized legos in the corner. He found himself watching the child for a few minutes, utterly invisible to the rest of the world.  He shuddered when a man walked right through him without sparing a second glance.

Dan walked in in that moment, tears still falling down his cheeks.  Arin was rubbing his back, his other arm around Suzy’s waist. Dan talked to the receptionist, who gave him a sympathetic frown before paging a doctor.  Arin and Suzy sat down, and Brian sat on a table that held magazines. “I’ll call Barry,” Suzy murmured, wiping her tears. “He should know, right?”

“Yeah, yeah…”  Arin nodded, hands idly playing with the hem of his shirt.  “I think he’s streaming though… I saw on his Twitter that he was doing an early one today.”

“I’ll text before I call.”  She started messing with her phone, and Brian could only watch, the cold hand of panic still gripping his chest.  He didn’t understand what was going on. He just wanted to know what was happening.

Meanwhile, Barry was in the middle of a livestream when his phone buzzed.  He had it laying screen up on his desk, and while he usually would ignore it, Suzy’s contact popped up.  His eyes widened as he scanned the text, quickly apologizing to his audience and pausing the screen. He heard his girlfriend ask what was wrong, but he was already dialing Suzy’s number.  “Suzy? What happened?”

“It’s Brian.  He’s… he’s in the hospital.  He was in an accident on the way to work.”

Barry let out a choked gasp.  “Is he okay?”

“...All I know is that Dan said he’s not in good shape.  We haven’t seen him yet.”

“...I’ll be there in 2 hours, okay?”  He got the name of the hospital and hung up, taking a steadying breath.  “Hey… um… I have to run.”

Bath frowned, resting a hand on his arm.  “Who got hurt?”

“Brian.  He was in an accident and it’s… it’s bad.”  He let out a shaky sigh, worried. “I mean, I should probably get going…”

“I’ll get the livestream taken care of, alright?  Call me when you get there, okay?” She gave him a hug.

Barry held onto her tightly for a long moment, giving her a soft kiss.  “I’ll keep you updated.”

“Alright.  I love you.”  She squeezed his hands tight.  “I’m sure he’ll be alright.”

He smiled faintly, giving her one last kiss before getting ready to leave.  As he was leaving their apartment, he could hear her talking into the camera.

At the hospital, Dan was walking back into the waiting room, pale as a sheet.  “H… hey. I talked to the surgeon.”

Arin stood up, pulling Dan closer.  “Deep breaths, baby, deep breaths. ...how bad is it?”

Tears started to fall again, and he gripped Arin’s shirt.  “...Broken ribs and a collapsed lung… um, his leg was crushed really bad.”  A sob broke out. “They’re gonna have to amputate. His hand is broken pretty bad… but it should heal.  Um… and he has a bad head injury.” He sniffled.

Arin slowly sat back down, pulling Dan onto his lap.  Suzy was staring in shock, leaning her head on his shoulder.  Brian looked down at his legs. Oh god… His day was an absolute disaster.

There was another long pause.  None of them knew what to say or do.  There was just a heavy cloud of gloom over them.  Brian got up, slowly making his way through the hospital.  He slowly pressed a hand to the doors, realizing he was moving through them.  That couldn’t be good.

But he found the surgical room he was laying in.  It was unsettling, watching doctors work on his body.  His thumb looked like it had been pushed against the back of his hand, probably from the airbag.  His leg looked mangled, and there was a blood bag hanging up and attached to his arm. He felt sick, watching the drills work through his femur.  Then there was a jolt through him, and a loud beeping filled the room.

“He’s crashing!  Get the cart!” A doctor was already starting CPR, yelling orders.  She had her eyebrows furrowed as a nurse hooked up an injection to the IV in Brian’s arm.  The doctor grabbed the defibrillator, yelling more orders. Brian shuddered, watching as he was revived.  Something made him feel unable to stop watching, just… staring.

He watched as his leg was taken off, feeling utterly ill.  His head had been mostly shaved, another doctor stitching up a gross looking gash.  He didn’t want to keep watching, but god he couldn’t look away.

The surgery was taking what felt like forever.  He knew it was probably only about 4 hours, but watching his body put through that… he didn’t know how he stayed standing.  But he supposed not being in his body helped.

At some point during that time, unbeknownst to Brian, Barry arrived, shooting a text to let Bath know he’d gotten there okay.  Ross hurried over to him. “Barry… it’s… it’s good to see you again.”

“Hey Ross… how’s he doing?”

“Arin talked to the receptionist a little while ago.  He crashed during surgery, but um… he’s mostly stabilized now.  They’re gonna move him into a room in the ICU. His chances aren’t high, but he might pull through.”  Ross took a deep breath. “And he lost his leg in the crash.”

“What?”  Barry let out a soft gasp.

“Yeah… I guess the truck hit him right on the driver’s side… he almost lost a thumb from the airbag, but that should be okay… the car was hit at a weird angle and crushed his leg from the knee down.  He lost so much blood… but they got the transfusion just in time… I think they amputated above the knee. Suzy’s been researching different types of prosthetic and sobbing into Dan’s shoulder, mostly.”

Barry nodded, biting his lip.  “Poor guy… uh, Bath said to say hi and that once Brian is out of the hospital she wants all you guys to come over.”

Ross smiled weakly.  “She’s optimistic, huh?”

“Yeah.”  He laughed faintly.  “You’d really love her.”  He sighed. “But she’s got the right idea.  We’re gonna have to stay positive, especially for those three…”

“You’re right.  As always.” Ross hugged Barry tightly.  “I miss you.”

“I miss you guys too… I’ll try to visit more often, okay?”  Barry hugged Ross back, lightly resting a hand on the back of his head.  “It’s all gonna be okay. He’ll pull through. He’s healthy and strong and too damn stubborn to die.”

Ross let out a choked, tear-filled laugh.  “Yeah… yeah, you’re right.” He pressed his face against Barry’s shoulder, a few tired, worried tears falling from his eyes.  “Okay, yeah… let’s go back over there. Arin’s been trying to hold it together for too long… He’s gonna break down any minute now.”  He stepped back to wipe his eyes and take a few steadying breaths. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Barry smiled a little, walking over to the others.  “Hi guys…”

“Oh Barry…”  Dan stood up, practically tackling him in a hug.  “Oh god, Suzy told you?”

“And Ross filled me in on the details.”

Dan let out a choked sound, gripping Barry tightly.  “I had to sign all those papers… He’s gonna hate me if he wakes up…”

“ _ When _ Brian wakes up, he’ll understand that it was to give him the best chance.”  He softly pet Dan’s hair. “Come on, Suzy was looking up prosthetic limbs, right?  I’m sure you can find a cool looking one. Now, we need to stay positive. Maybe he’ll wake up as soon as he gets out of surgery.  I’m sure he’d hate to see all his partners looking so blue.” He softly held Dan away from himself, wiping his tears.

Suzy sniffled, slowly standing up to hug Barry.  “You… you have a point. We should try to be a little more hopeful.”

Ross sat down next to Arin, wrapping an arm around him.  “Barry’s right. Chin up, buddy.”

Arin slowly lifted his head, tears streaking down his face.  “...they said his chances aren’t good though? What if… what if he doesn’t make it?”  Arin had really been trying to hold it together, mostly for Dan and Suzy, but now… it was all hitting him at once, this torrential sadness and fear that was almost suffocating.  He pressed his face into Ross’s shoulder, letting out a sob that lurched his chest and made his whole body shudder, as if some emergency release lever had been pulled on his fears.

Ross looked like his heart was utterly breaking, just hugging Arin even tighter.  “I know… I know…” He rested his chin on top of Arin’s head. “We’re all scared, and it’s okay.  But right now, nothing is certain. We just need to stay here and wait. And try to stay hopeful, even though it’s hard…”

Arin just kept crying, clinging to Ross.  Arin had always been the one who took it upon himself to stay strong and keep it together.  But it made sense that this was what would break him. “I… I love him. I can’t lose him. I can’t.”  He wiped at his eyes, gripping Ross’s shoulders tight. “I can’t.”

“I love him too, honey.”  Suzy sat next to him. “And he’s gonna came back from this.  He’s gonna be okay.” Arin looked up at her with big, teary eyes.  She reached over, softly wiping them off his cheeks. “He’ll be okay.  We just have to wait.”

“I’m sick of waiting.”  His voice was practically a whisper.  “We’ve been here for hours…”

“Yeah.”  Suzy just pulled him into a hug, letting him cry and rubbing his back.  “Just breathe, kitten.” She softly kissed his cheek. “...just breathe.”

Another long hour passed.  Finally, a doctor called for Dan.  He nearly tripped, standing up. “That’s me… is Brian okay?  What’s happening?”

“Brian Wecht is out of surgery.  He’s in the ICU. We’ve got him stabilized, but his chances aren’t high until he wakes up.  And we aren’t sure when that will be. But you can go see him if you’d like.” A doctor was looking at her clipboard before looking up at Dan.

“Can we all go?”

“Two at a time.  And keep your voices down back there, please.”

Suzy nudged Arin’s arm.  “Go back with Dan, okay? I’ll go after you.”  He gave her a nervous glance, but nodded, clinging to Dan’s arm.  Dan held on just as tight.

Brian was laid out on the hospital bed, a breathing tube down his throat.  There were bandages over his chest and head, his thumb in a splint. And where his leg should have been… nothing.  Arin slowly walked over, softly brushing his fingertips over Brian’s cheek. “Oh Brian… I’m so sorry… I wish I could have done something…”

Brian, at least his non corporeal form, stepped forward, sadly resting his hand on Arin’s arm.  “There wasn’t anything you could do.” He couldn’t interact with much anymore, his hand just slipping through Arin’s arm.  But it made him feel a little better just to look at Arin. He didn’t understand why or how he was like this, and he wondered if it would hurt less to not be seeing all this.  It was like watching his own funeral in a sense. What if he had died? What if he did die?

Brian looked down at himself, wincing.  He didn’t recognize himself, and a sick feeling pulled at his gut.  He shook his head, looking back at Arin and softly leaning his forehead against his.  He brushed his lips against Arin’s, even though neither of them could really feel it. He wanted to just hold onto Arin forever, close his eyes and pretend he wasn’t here, was just with Arin and Suzy and Dan.  Home.

But then Arin was leaving, Brian reaching to grab his sleeve.  But his fingers couldn't hold on, just going right through. Suzy and Ross came in, and seeing Suzy cry was utterly heartbreaking.  He wanted to hug her and reassure her, but he was stuck watching.

It wasn’t until Barry came in that his spirits (ha) began to lift.  When Barry stared right at him a little too long. “...Barry?”

“Brian?  How… what…?”

“You can see me!  Oh my god!”

“Why aren’t you like… in your body?”

“What do you mean?” Brian sat on the bed, frowning.

“Your soul or spirit or whatever you call it is supposed to be in your body.”

“Why can you see me?”

Barry sighed.  “I’ve always been able to see spirits.”  He paused. “You must have not realized you got hurt.  The impact threw you from your body. Now you’re stuck here.”

“What does that mean?”

“You won’t be able to wake up without being in your body!”  Barry began to pace, fretting. “I don’t know how to get you back.  Oh shit man. This is bad.”

“Great.”  Brian laid down onto himself.  “Goddamn this.” He covered his face with his hands.  “I don’t want it to end like this.”

“Maybe it won’t.  We just need to try.”  He glanced at the time.  “Visiting hours are almost over… I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?  You just hang tight here.”

“Not like I have a choice…”

Several days passed.  Brian was working to get back in his body, Barry doing everything he could to help.  Arin and Suzy barely left the hospital, except when Ross made them.  Dan refused to even be dragged away.  And Brian was slowly losing hope.  He felt like he was literally fading away, his body more and more transparent as time passed. And he just felt tired, which he wasn’t sure was supposed to happen, since he wasn’t even connected to his body, which controlled the fact that he actually had human needs.

A full week had passed.

Barry was sitting in the chair next to the bed, Arin and Suzy off at home to shower and eat, Ross with them to make sure they actually ate, Dan asleep on the other side of the room.  “Barry… I’m scared.” Brian’s voice was quiet, almost detached. He looked down at the bed. “What if nothing works?”

“We’ll figure it out.  We have to. I’m not losing you.  They won’t lose you, okay? You’ll get back into your body and you’ll heal.”

“Promise…?”

“I promise.  What if… you try just going to sleep?  Maybe you’re tired because your body is trying to draw you back in, but you’re just too disconnected?”

Brian slowly laid down, curling up on the edge of the bed.  “...okay.” He softly closed his eyes, feeling himself dragged into sleep.

When he woke up, he just heard chaos.  His head was dizzy, and he was a drugged sort of numb.  The lights were bright, and he felt something running down his throat.  A hand was gripping his tight. Almost too tight. He weakly tried to turn his head, blinking very slowly with heavy eyelids.  A beeping sounded through the room, a doctor standing over him.

The next few minutes were chaotic and hazy as the drugs began to wear off.  The tube was taken out of his throat and replaced with a mask, and the world got a little less hazy around the edges.  “Suzy,” he rasped, reaching for her hand.  He could feel his other hand being held by Dan, could hear his faint crying, whispers full of love and utter joy.

Suzy took it, holding on so tight, kissing his hand softly.  “I’m right here, Bri. Right here, I promise.” She nearly started crying when he gently squeezed her hand, his blue eyes exhausted and pull of a pain he didn’t quite feel with all the medication in his body, but they were alive.  He was alive.

Arin was openly crying, standing next to Suzy with a hand on her shoulder.  “You’re gonna be okay, honey. We promise. You’re here. You’re still here.”

Brian smiled weakly, closing his eyes.  “Thank you,” he whispered. They were right.

He was alive.


End file.
